Everyone Wins – A True Community Effort to Help those in Need

When it came time to raising funds for the needy, it didn’t take much to get the SJVC students, faculty, and staff at the Hesperia campus to get into the holiday spirit. Before the Thanksgiving holiday Caitlin Curtis, the Campus Dean, organized a canned food drive for a domestic violence shelter called A BETTER WAY, located only ten minutes off campus in Victor Valley. Dean Curtis knows that SJVC students are hard workers and also quite competitive; so she decided to take advantage of the naturally competitive spirit around school for the good of a cause.

When she announced the food drive, she added an incentive: whichever training program collected the most canned goods would receive a free breakfast courtesy of the Dean’s office. She announced a cut-off date of November 23^rd – at noon – to bring all canned goods into the office.

It was soon evident the students wanted to win this contest but needed to think of a way to win without missing class.  So, at exactly 11:58am on November 23rd, Dean Curtis watched, amused, as family members – standing in for their students – were still dropping off canned goods for their children right up to the deadline! Over 700 items were collected, including bags of baby food. The entire donations filled up two cars to the brim.

Of the eight different programs offered at SJVC Hesperia, the Dental Assisting program won the competition with over 400 canned items – and enjoyed a free morning meal of  “Breakfast Jacks.”  But the real winners? They were the families of the domestic violence shelter, who had the SJVC community to thank for a bountiful Thanksgiving celebration with turkey and as many side dishes as they could possibly eat – a memorable meal that would last way beyond the holiday itself.